Memory of Her
by AliceUnknown
Summary: Okay, maybe she was always just a little better than him…


Kei walked through the halls of Hakusekan, returning to his home. It had been another meaningless day, in which Hikari had challenged him to something he really didn't remember and could care less to. As usual, he won (he definitely would have remembered if he had lost) and, as usual, she claimed that one day, she would beat him at something. And, after that, the day just proceeded in a hazy blur.

As he walked through the halls, though, he heard something. Something soft. As it steadily grew louder with each step he took, he recognized it a piano music. Curious, Kei walked closer and closer to the music room. As each note rung out clearer, he tried to recognize the music, but it was nothing that he knew off the top of his head. Still, it was very familiar. Nostalgic, even.

As he stood right outside of the door to the music room, he closed his eyes as he focused on the melody.

His eyes opened and he smiled when he realized where he had heard it before.

_Flashback_

_"Takishima! Takishima!" Her small voice called to him. "Come! Come here!" She gave her brightest smile as she reached out and grabbed his arm. This made him blush a little on the inside, but he kept a nonchalant look on the outside as he replied, "What? What is it?"_

_"I wanna show you something!" said little Hikari as she pulled him by the arm into her shaggy house. He always had a little bit of pity for her whenever he entered her small home. Compared to his mansion, this was something you might keep a dog in. He tried to push such rude thoughts out of his head as he uncomfortably made his way into the living room._

_She released her grip on him as she sat down on the piano bench, excitement spread all across her childish face. _Oh boy, _thought Kei as he quietly sighed to himself._ I think I know where this is going.

_His thoughts were proven correct as she took out sheet music that Kei did not recognize. It wasn't Beethoven or Mozart, as Kei knew almost all of their music. She scanned over it quickly and when she finished, she turned to him and said, "I've been working on this for a while now!" She turned back to the piano with a determined look. Kei smirked as he sat on the dusty couch and waited for her to play._

_Hikari took a deep breath and released it slowly. She placed her hands in the proper positions and concentrated for a moment before her first note was played._

_Almost immediately, Kei was captivated by the song. It was slow, but lovely, with a hint of a melancholy tone to it. Just hearing it made his heart swell up a little bit. Kei watched as Hikari's little fingers dashed in some places and stroked the keys in other places. He sat in awe for a while, clearly having underestimating Hikari. He was even more surprised when the tone changed to a very euphoric one that really touched Kei. It's tempo was still slow, but it made him feel peaceful inside. It had a little touch of classical in some parts, and had a wide variety of song was very intricate and detailed in its rhythms, but also incorporated simple chords._

_In short, it was beautiful._

_Kei closed his little eyes as he focused on every little detail that came from the piano. After a little while, though, he simply let each note appeal to him without thinking about what it was. As he listened, his heart was delighted to the music and swayed back and forth along with the easygoing melody._

_For some reason, it made him happy._

_Maybe it was because he loved the song. Maybe because he was pleasantly surprised. He believed, though, that it was because he could listen to that song all day long, for a very long time. He could carelessly waste the day away, letting the tune caress him and rock him gently. He believed it was because, when he listened to that song, he could easily forget every responsibility in the world- his social status, his grades, his expectations- and slip away into it._

_Or maybe it was just the one who was playing it..._

_"Takishima?" he heard Hikari ask. Kei hadn't even noticed that the music had stopped- he was still silent and at peace. He opened his eyes to see her staring, hopeful and (as always) determined, at him. "What did you think?"_

_He was so glad she asked what he thought of it instead of how he felt about it. He kept a bored expression on his face as he replied, "Well, it was really a rather simple melody. It didn't seem that difficult at all. And the playing is amateur at best." He knew that sounded harsh, but he was positive that this was just anther competition for her. "If you actually want to play it _well,_ use more dynamic contrast, keep the tempo steady, and don't slip up on those last few notes." Well, he wasn't really _lying_, technically. "Here, like this!"_

_He walked over to the piano and took one look at the music before sight-reading it perfectly, and going through the entire song with absolute perfection._

_When he finished, he stood up and said, "Like that. Don't worry, you'll get better."_

_But when he looked over at Hikari, he didn't see the frustration or the ambition in her eyes that he usually saw whenever he out-did her at anything. Instead, his heart sank when he saw hurt, defeat and spots of wetness as she stared at the piano. He froze and suddenly felt really horrible. He backtracked and looked to se if he did anything out of the ordinary. He couldn't recall doing anything different- Hikari would always show her something she could do well, thought she could beat Kei and the Kei would do the same thing, but better, and Hikari would cry out in frustration and look for something else she could do well, and that was the end of that. _

_He felt even worse after hearing her pitiful voice croak out, "I...I..."_

_Terrified, for Kei had never seen this side of her, he choked out, "H-Hikari?"_

_Her pale face turned down to the floor as she whispered, "I...that was my...my favorite thing...to...do..."_

Crap! _Thought Kei daringly for his age. _Oh, God, look what I've done now! _Hikari, are you-"_

_"It's fine," she said, still looking at the floor. "You're just...better than me...even at piano...I...I..." She sunk to the floor._

_"I give up."_

_Kei's eyes opened wide. He never in a million years thought he would hear her say that! And over something as basic and common as piano. "W-WHAT? What do you mean?" he asked as he kneeled to the floor next to her._

_"I just can't win," she spoke, voice clogging up like she was about to cry. "Not even at piano. I...I always wanted to play piano. So I learned, but...I guess it doesn't matter..."_

_Kei just stared at her for a while. Then, he furrowed his brow and said, with a bit of ferocity, "Hey!"_

_Surprised, Hikari looked up at him. He locked his gaze with hers. Then, he reached out and grabbed her shoulders and held them tight, still staring directly at her. Confused and shocked by his sudden interaction with her, she whispered, "Kei, what are-"_

_She froze when Kei leaned in slightly, her cheeks now red as a rose, eyes as big as could be. _

_After a second of stillness, Kei then shouted, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" as he shook her violently back and forth. Scared and amazed by his sudden actions, Hikari cried, "AHH! Wh-What? What do you m-mean? S-Stop shaking me! Takishima!"_

_Slamming his palms on the floor, Kei inquired, "Why are you suddenly giving up? That's not the Hikari I know! The Hikari I know would get back on that piano bench and try much, much harder, until she thought she was perfect! Or at least find something else to beat me at! What, just because I beat you at something like the piano, you're gonna never try to be good at anything now?"_

Confused and frustrated, little Hikari said, "But it was different this time! This was something that I actually wanted to do when I grew up, and you beat me without even trying! I had to teach myself how to play and learn that whole song! I know that that's not much for you," she began to yell, "but for other people, that's a lot!"

_Now enraged, Hikari continued, "And you didn't even care, either! You just walked all over how I may have felt just 'cause you wanted to be better than me!"_

_She hid her face in her knees as she cried, "I'm sick of it! You beat me at everything!"_

_Quite please with himself, Kei said, "There! There's little Hikari I knew."_

_Confused more than ever, she stopped her crying for a moment to say, "Wh-What are you-"_

_"If you had used that kind of energy to try again, instead of just cry about losing, you could've had a chance," he interrupted, grin on his little face. "If you sit here crying about, how are you gonna get better? I thought you really wanted to be a pianist. Was I wrong?"_

_She stared at him. "Um...no?"_

_"Exactly," he boasted. He had really outdone himself this time, he thought to himself._

_She was still curious. "Why are you trying to help me?"_

_He paused. He considered telling her the truth, but decided against it. So, instead, he gave a sly smile and said, "Because it's more fun doing things when you're beating someone doing it."_

_She immediately forgot all feelings of defeat as she scowled and said, "HUH? You only like to do things to beat me, eh? Well, I won't give you that satisfaction!" She gasped. "Is this a challenge? WELL I ACCEPT! I _won't _let you have fun then! I won't let you beat me! Are you even listening, Takishima?"_

_He had erupted into laughter right around the time she made a challenge out of letting him have fun._

_End of Flashback_

There were three major differences between the song that he had heard back then and the song he was listening to now.

One. There was more dynamic contrast.

Two. The tempo was steadier.

Three. The only notes that she had missed before towards the end were now perfected.

Kei smiled. There had been many other slight improvements, but it was still the same song. Still the same rhythm. Still the same sound.

Still the same thick-headed, short-tempered, ambitious, stubborn girl.

Who he still loved.

He stayed and listened for the rest of the song, and when she had finished, he clapped. Terrified, Hikari turned around and was shocked to find it was him. "TAKISHIMA? What are you doing here?"

He gave a satisfied smile towards her. "That was great," he said.

She blushed, surprised. "...r...really?" she asked.

He nodded. She smiled, relieved.

Then he added, "Took you long enough."

To which she became frustrated and began to yell at him. Which he enjoyed, for some reason. He guessed it was because it showed the Hikari he knew very well. Determined, hard-working.

But a part of him also longed for her to smile at him.

Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. It was something he had been meaning to ask since the day he had heard the song. "Say, Hikari," he said, interrupting a conversation that she was unaware she was having to herself.

"…and I swear, one day- huh?" she snapped back into reality. "What is it?"

"Where did you hear that song?" He needed to know.

"Where did I hear it? What do you mean? I wrote it."

Kei stopped. Everything in him stopped- his breathing, his mind, his heart. _She wrote that? Even when she was so young? That's…not even possible,_ he thought.

And it began to dawn on him. She wrote that. She wrote on of the most beautiful pieces he had ever heard. All when she was still a child. That was one of the only things that Kei couldn't even fathom doing himself. Give him and piece in the world and he could play it flawlessly on the first go. But…..to write something like that…

_She finally beat me…._

Hikari stared at him and asked, "….Kei? Are you alright?"

He tried to focus his attention back to where he was now, but the only thing on his mind was how incredible and unfathomable that was. And especially how the only thing she had beaten him at she was unaware of.

"Why didn't you say so when you played it for me?" he asked, still in awe.

Hikari shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I thought you already knew….."

After gazing at her for a while and her fidgeting some more, Kei finally blinked, nodded his head, and smirked, "Not bad, I guess."


End file.
